A Joyful Keeper

We had a lovely day today. Went to church this morning, and this afternoon enjoyed afternoon tea with some other homeschooling friends. Robyn and her dh dropped in too, so we really had a relaxing day.

I’ve been thinking about simplicity so much lately. I suppose it is because we are going to be moving out to the homestead in a few months, and I am trying to prepare myself for the move. I worked out that by the time we move out to the farm, we will have moved 5 times in the past two years. No wonder I am worn out! No wonder I never feel like I am on top of things! Add to that still trying to get used to things back here and I want to take this next move ever so slooooowly!

I have never been the type of person to store things because I can’t let go of them. I am happy to give things away. With our new house being about half the size of our current one, I am wondering what I am going to do with all our stuff! Should I just box it up and store it? What is the point of that? Will I ever use it again? Maybe when we extend the house I’ll need it…. maybe when we add a little guest bungalow…. maybe….!

One thing I do know - whether I end up storing my excess stuff or not, I do not want the house cluttered and full of things. I don’t mind the house being small, but I will not be able to cope with it being cluttered. So, again, I will go through my cupboards in the next weeks. I will give away things I know I don’t need, and some things that I love I will pack away for the future.

I will keep the basics of what I need in the kitchen and school room. School will probably be at the kitchen table, so I will have limited space for school books and supplies anyway. Sewing will be only my UFO’s - the rest of the fabric will be packed away until I FINISH everything I have started (oh dear!!). I will keep it simple.

Yesterday I did a big cookup in the kitchen. I ended up with a few meals in the freezer and a huge batch of cookies. I also ended up with a mess in the kitchen. In my new kitchen I will not have the space to have as big a mess as I created yesterday!!! I will need to do things one at a time, and clean up after myself each time. I was exhausted last night because I took on too much. I should have kept it simple.

Simple living… it touches so many areas of our lives. It is what we read, what we eat, how we dress, what we spend our time and money on. It is a journey.

As promised, photos of my spring garden. The weather has been fantastic, and we’ve even had some rain. I still managed to get my washing dry in between showers, and the bit of rain we did get was great for my newly planted spring garden.

Here you can see my potted Italian mix. I have a Roma tomato in this big pot, basil, Italian parsley, rocket and lettuce.

The canola has taken well to being transplanted. I’m sure it is appreciating some more soil, rather than the little bit it was trying to grow in by the wayside. Reminds me of the Parable of the Sower!

And last but not least, a new bunch of seeds in the mini hothouse. The rocket is already coming up! See the nice labels I made?! I printed them out and laminated them. These seedlings should be ready to plant by the time we move to our little homestead.

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Hosted by Biblical Womanhood

I am not the best at using leftovers, but I am trying hard. I usually plan for leftovers - ie, I make sure I have enough for two days. It’s the leftovers from the leftovers (if that makes sense!) that I often end up wasting. Little bits of food in little containers in the fridge that get pushed to the back and then start to grow…..

I am collecting recipes so that I can deal with some of those leftovers as we go. Here is one that I had at a friend’s house years ago. She had this beautiful cake for our morning tea, with such a pretty bright color. I was surprised to learn that it had pumpkin in it, because I couldn’t taste it. But of course it explained the color. It is quick and easy to make, and oh so yummy!! It’s also a great way to use up a little bit of leftover pumpkin.

 

Sultana Cake

1 cup mashed pumpkin

8 oz margarine

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sultanas

1 cup Self Raising Flour

1 cup Plain Flour

lemon essence

Cream margarine, sugar and essence.

Beat in eggs.

Add pumpkin, the flours and sultanas.

Bake in moderate oven for approx. 50 mins.

Using leftovers wisely can stretch the grocery budget little bit by little bit. Do you have any great recipes for leftovers? If you do, I’ll love to hear about them!

Things are going well! Thank you for all your kind comments about our little farm-to-be. It’s all falling into place - the bank has approved the finance and so now we just need to wait till mid November….!! I’m starting to get really excited, and as a result, had a bit of a spending spree on seeds, potting mix and veggies! I now have quite a little market garden growing in pots out my back door. I’ll take photos tomorrow and you’ll see my parsley, canola, tomatoes, oregano,…etc, etc!

My reading is also going well. Of course, I am still reading blogs, so my withdrawal symptoms are not as bad as they could be! At first I found myself reaching for a book during the day, out of habit. I stopped myself and went to do something else. I have been reading the Bible before bed and in the morning. I am reading one chapter of Proverbs a day, one Psalm, and for devotions I have started with John. Now I need to take my Bible out of my room and have it lying around so that I can reach for it during the day and just start reading snippets. I already feel like I am gaining fresh insight, and am enjoying the time with God.

My first temptation has struck. I talked to my sister yesterday who was disappointed when she read my blog entry about reading, because she just received a parcel in the mail of four books written by her favorite Christian author, Lori Wick! She is going to pass them on to me when she is done. I managed to be strong and tell her not to send them to me this month! I know they will be too much of a temptation!

My one and only dear sister is 9 years younger than me, and an answer to my prayers as a young child. There was just my older brother and I, and I would beg my mother for a sister! I prayed for one too. When I was nine, I got my wish! (My next wish was not granted - I tried to convince my parents to adopt a boy to keep my sister company…. oh well!)

My sister is married with FOUR children (yes, I am just a teeency weeency bit jealous! ) and lives soooo far away, all the way at the tip of Australia, while we are almost at the bottom! I miss her and her beautiful children. We get to see each other once a year, sometimes once every two years. I haven’t seen her last baby yet, but she sends lots of photos. I just wanted to share these two with you. Isn’t she just gorgeous????!!!! (No, I’m not biased at all, am I?!!)

I am hoping I’ll get to see this precious baby next year…… by then she might be walking! It’s no fun being so far away from family, but I do thank the Lord for telephones, emails and digital photos. And when we are together - oh, we have so much fun! We make the most of every minute.

So that is my mid week update, more words than photos! I hope you are all having a wonderful week.

It was a busy weekend. Busy but nice. Over the weekend I had some deep and meaningful thoughts… well, deep at least..!

The first one was this: As we were going for a two hour drive to meet the inlaws yesterday, (four hours all up) I thought to myself - I really should take something with me to do. I wondered whether I would give knitting in the car a go. I usually get carsick if I do anything but stare out of the window, so contemplating knitting was a bit silly. Then the thought crossed my mind - Why do I feel like I should always be doing something? What is wrong with just sitting and being…. must my hands always be busy?

“Be still and know that I am God.” Ps 46:10 came to mind, and I put aside all thoughts of bringing anything to do with me, even left my handbag behind, and just enjoyed the trip. I enjoyed talking to my husband. I enjoyed the scenery. And I was still a lot of the time, marveling at His beautiful creation.

The second deep and meaningful thing I was contemplating, was my love of reading. I read every day. I read all sorts of things - books, blogs, magazines, etc. I read all of these things MORE than I read the Bible. Many times in the past years I have considered banning all books, except the Bible, for a period of time. I have never had the courage to do it. Today I have put away all my excuses of the “best time” to do something like this, and I have declared that October 2007 is it!

This month, I will not read any novels or magazines, unless I need to for school, and I will only read the Bible. I am also going to read “Thirty Days to Understanding the Bible” by Max E Anders. I have had this book for YEARS, but never read it through. Along with reading the Bible daily, I will spend 10 or 15 minutes a day reading a chapter from this book, which explains a lot of Biblical history, doctrines, etc. This will help me be focused on the Bible and how it fits together.

It will be a challenge for me, but a good one. I am looking forward to what God will do in my life during this month. I want to read the Bible in larger chunks, but also shorter snippets for devotions. I won’t be using a devotional, just reading straight from the Bible and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to me. I am excited, but a bit scared too! I know it won’t be easy, because I am just so used to picking up a book and reading…. instead I want to get used to picking up the Bible in the middle of the day and reading it.